Lawful employment ordinance failed

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In 2006, Beaufort County enacted ”Lawful Employment Ordinance.” But it failed to achieve its stated purpose: “to deter and prevent employment of unauthorized aliens.”

The ordinance called for audits on all county businesses to: (1) identify those who employ illegal aliens and (2) suspend or revoke their business license as penalty. The county hired Advance Point Global, a Hilton Head firm owned by Andy Patrick, to conduct the audits beginning in 2008.

The audit search for illegals was hampered by municipalities of the county. Hilton Head, Bluffton and Beaufort town leaders insisted that immigration enforcement is a federal issue and should be dealt with at that level. Thus, illegal aliens employed at businesses with a municipal license were shielded from the county’s audits by sanctuary-city-like policies.

From 2008-2010, Advance Global Point conducted 2,615 audits at a cost of $875,523. None of the audits resulted in license suspension or revocation (penalties for non-compliance spelled out in the law.) Auditors referred 198 businesses to the sheriff for further investigation; as a result, 53 individuals were identified as illegal aliens who used fraudulent identification to obtain employment. They were charged and two received three-year sentences for forgery. Some cases are still pending. There were no deportations as a result of the audits. It cannot be determined whether any illegal aliens lost their job as a result of the audits.

Meanwhile, we see growing numbers of illegal aliens living and working in the county. Many citizens lost jobs to them. We are coming to realize that the ordinance with such great promise has failed … and we wonder why.